Morningside Park

Giant Sequoia Tree Planted In Morningside Park

Today, a Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) tree was planted in Morningside Park inManhattan. A pinetum is being created inside of the park that will showcase a variety of prominent trees, with this Giant Sequoia as its centerpiece.

“The Morningside Park pinetum showcases prominent trees from around the globe, mirroring NewYork City’s diverse population,” said Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe. “Now we have made this transplanted Giant Sequoia one in a million as part of the MillionTreesNYC initiative at thishistoric park.”

The Giant Sequoia planted at Morningside Park is currently 20 feet tall. It is approximately 4,500 pounds, has a trunk base of 16 - 18 inches wide, and is in a 60-inch root ball. Giant Sequoias are the largest trees in the world by volume and they are natives of the coastal western United States. The oldest known Giant Sequoia is thought to be over 3,000 years old.

The tree was donated by Schichtel’s Nursery in Oregon, a family owned business with farms in both Oregon and western New York dedicated to providing high quality shade trees. It was planted with the assistance of Bartlett Tree Experts, a Stamford, CT based family owned tree care company who has been a pioneer in tree care and health for over 100 years.

The planting of this Giant Sequoia is part of MillionTreesNYC, a cornerstone of Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC vision to establish a more sustainable New York City. By planting one million trees throughout the five boroughs over the next decade, we will increase New York City’s tree canopy cover by 20 percent while creating cleaner air and cooler streets, which will improve the health of all New Yorkers. With over 195,000 trees already in the ground, and with 20,000 recently planted by volunteers on Hands on New York Day on April 25, we have far exceeded our yearly target planting goal

MillionTreesNYC is a public-private partnership between the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation and Bette Midler’s New York Restoration Project.